AGL Energy plans to shut down Victoria’s largest power plant in response to threatened industrial action.
The company says it will halt operations at its Loy Yang A power plant and coal mine from May 15 after a union threatened rolling stoppages.
The Loy Yang A power station supplies about 30 per cent of Victoria’s power requirements, and is powered by coal from the adjacent mine.
The company had been negotiating a new pay agreement with workers at Loy Yang for more than 18 months until the Fair Work Commission in January agreed to end the existing pay deal.
AGL was notified on Wednesday by the Victorian branch of the Electrical Trades Union that it would stop all work at the Loy Yang coal mine from May 15 as part of its proposed industrial action.
The proposed action would compromise the safe operations of the plant and ultimately put Victoria’s power generation at risk, the company said in announcing its planned response.
AGL intends to lock out workers from the power plant and mine from May 15, saying it had no other option to resolve the bargaining dispute.
“As a consequence of the proposed action, AGL Loy Yang will not be able to continue operations. This will require both the Loy Yang A power station and the mine be shut down,” AGL Loy Yang General Manager Steve Rieniets said in a statement.
“We need to lock out the entire site simultaneously with the industrial action, this will allow us to shut down the station in a systematic way to protect equipment from being damaged.”